Tag Archives: Government Debt

After five posts exploring why the usual “easy fixes” don’t work

cancelling central bank–held debt,
copying Japan,
inflating the debt away,
stopping borrowing,
selling assets,
taxing the rich to make it all go away

…we end with the obvious question:

So what has historically worked to reduce government debt?

And the answer will either surprise people — or confirm what some have quietly suspected all along:

Every debate on “work-shy Britain” circles back to two supposed fixes:
Just make people take the jobs.
Cut benefits until they do.

Both feel satisfying.
Neither explains why millions already work, can’t get enough hours, or still rely on support to survive.

When people look at the national debt, two more “easy fixes” appear:

Sell government assets to pay it down.

Tax the rich heavily — surely they can cover it.

Both ideas contain a grain of logic, would they work?

When governments face rising debt, two familiar “common-sense” solutions appear:

Let inflation rise — that shrinks debt in real terms.

Stop borrowing altogether — just live within our means.

Both ideas sound tidy and responsible. But are they?

When people hear that Japan has government debt of more than 250% of GDP, a common question is:

“If Japan can run huge debt and keep borrowing costs near zero, why can’t we just copy their model?”

It’s a fair challenge — on the surface, Japan looks like it has cracked the code of modern debt management.

Continuing from my previous post – I look into the war that ended the era of fiscal success and who benefitted from it financially, as we are still paying off this debt.